How I Turned 73,000 Twitter Followers into a Business

They may not be famous, but in the digital world, they wield the power of celebrity. They're the Twitter elite — those who have tens or hundreds of thousands of followers — and they are courted by tweeters who hope they'll favor them with a retweet or two. Getting on their good side can mean an instant boost for your business.

More important, however, is that these masters of the Twitter-verse have some lessons to offer. How exactly does one acquire 100,000 Twitter followers? Sounds like a full-time job, right? We asked five very successful tweeters to share with us their secrets to taming the Twitter beast. We'll run their stories all week in our five-part series: The Twitter Elite.

Kyle Sandler, aka The Droid Guy, says his business was born out of Twitter.

"Twitter created this business," said Sandler, whose website, The Droid Guy, is dedicated to providing news and information about Android products and technology in general. "I began tweeting about Android from another account and people would start saying, 'Ask him, he's thedroidguy,' so I started 'thedroidguy' [Twitter] account 11 months before the Motorola Droid was even announced."

Sandler, whose website is financed by sponsorships and "engagement promotions" on Twitter, said he was intrigued by Twitter at first, but wasn't sure that 140 characters would be enough to get his thoughts across.

"I grew frustrated in the beginning because I couldn't express complete thoughts in 140 characters," he told BusinessNewsDaily. "Over time, I taught myself how to get my thoughts down to 140."

Jeanette has been writing about business for more than 20 years. She has written about every kind of entrepreneur from hardware store owners to fashion designers. Previously she was a manager of internal communications for Home Depot. Her journalism career began in local newspapers. She has a degree in American Studies from Rutgers University. Follow her on Twitter @jeanettebnd.